Iraqi report on hostage release now called false

updated 6:24 p.m. ET Nov. 14, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Suspected Shiite militiamen dressed as Interior Ministry commandos stormed a Higher Education Ministry office Tuesday and kidnapped dozens of people after clearing the area under the guise of providing security for what they claimed would be a visit by the U.S. ambassador.

A broadcast report that most hostages were freed appeared to be false.

Witnesses and authorities said the gunmen raced through all four stories of the building, forced men and women into separate rooms, handcuffed the men and loaded them aboard about 20 pickup trucks.

Shortly afterward, authorities arrested five senior police officers in connection with the abductions — the police chief and five top subordinates in the Karradah district, the central Baghdad region where the kidnappers struck, Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Jalil Khalaf said.

There were varying estimates of the number of people kidnapped, but it appeared that at least 50 were seized — one of the largest mass abductions in Iraq. Authorities said as many as 20 were later released but said a broadcast report that most hostages were freed appeared to be false. The assault came on a day that saw at least 117 people die in the mounting disorder and violence gripping the country.

The abductions in broad daylight raised further questions about Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s commitment to wiping out the heavily armed Shiite militias of his prime political backers: the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI, and the Sadrist Movement of radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

How many taken? Accounts differ
Iraqi officials gave wildly differing accounts of how many people were abducted in the raid on the Ministry of Higher Education office that handles academic grants and exchanges. Figures ranged from as many as 150 to as few as 45.

By late Tuesday the top estimate, given by Higher Education Minister Abed Theyab, appeared to have been inflated. Both the Interior and Defense ministries issued statements declaring that no more than 50 people were abducted and that as many as 20 victims had been released. But the lower figure included only employees known to have been at work in the building and did not count an unknown number of people in the offices on business.

Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud / Reuters A policeman stands guard outside the compound of the Higher Education Ministry in Baghdad on Tuesday, after gunmen kidnapped up to 150 people from the building.

Even at 50, the mass abduction would be the equal of two past kidnappings in which at least 50 victims were spirited away by gunmen.

Tuesday’s kidnapping was believed to have been in retribution for the abduction three days earlier of 50 Shiite passengers who were snatched off minibuses by Sunni gunmen at a fake checkpoint along the highway near Latifiyah, about 20 miles south of Baghdad. The gunmen killed 10 passengers before making away with their captives.

Although the kidnappers Tuesday were believed to be Shiites, it was unclear whether their hostages were mostly Sunni.

Alaa Makki, head of parliament’s education committee, said the gunmen had a list of names of those to take. Those kidnapped included the office’s deputy general directors, employees and visitors, he said.

Sunnis condemn act as ‘political farce’
The Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni Muslim group in the country, called the kidnapping “not only a crime but a major political farce.”

“How can 50 new vehicles move around in ... the area most heavily controlled by security agencies in the middle of the day?” the party said in a statement.

The facility appeared to be an easy target. Police and witnesses said the gunmen, who they claimed numbered about 80, had closed off streets surrounding the ministry. Four guards put up no resistance and were unharmed, police spokesman Maj. Mahir Hamad said.

Makki said the gunmen claimed to be helping the government’s anti-corruption body check on security ahead of a planned visit by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.

“It was a quick operation. It took about 10 to 15 minutes,” Theyab told parliament of the mass abduction. “It was a four-story building and the gunmen went to the four stories.” He said the armed men had at least 20 vehicles.

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